Annoying Questions about Wacker & North Michigan Area

Here is my sad fate. I'm going to be in Chicago (that's the good news) for the national bridge tournament next week. Our constraints during this period are tough (and this is the bad news). We need to eat dinner at approximately 5 to 5:30 and be back at the Hyatt by 7:30 sharp. I'll have some time after the tourney to do some serious eating, but any recommendations you'd have for places (any type, really) that would be open this early for dinner (we can take taxis, of course) would be greatly appreciated..

I've been reading the boards and don't need more help with my free time. But any ideas for late-night eating in the area, or breakfast, for that matter, would be more than welcome.

Thanks,

Dave

Similar request from a previous poster:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=8887&highlight

jbw wrote:Similar request from a previous poster:

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=8887&highlight

Thanks so much for the link. I have more than a sneaking suspicion that jbw is a bridge player!

For late night possibilities, how about Cafe Iberico on Lasalle, or one of the 24 hour Pakistani cabbie places (e.g. Baba Palace, corner of Chicago and Orleans; a couple more are north of there on Orleans)?

Or take a short cab ride to Greektown where several places serve until 12 or 1 (try searching for info on Santorini or Artopolis cafe).

Cafe Iberico
739 N. LaSalle St.
312-573-1510

Baba Palace
334 W. Chicago Ave.
312-867-7777

Santorini
800 W. Adams St.
312-829-8820

Artopolis Bakery Cafe & Agora
306 S. Halsted St.
312-559-9000

Thanks so much for the ideas. Indian/Pakistani apres-bridge sounds great.

Dave Feldman wrote:But any ideas for late-night eating in the area, or breakfast, for that matter, would be more than welcome.

For late night dinner, the upstairs lounge is open at Kamehachi in Old Town for respectable sushi until 2a.m.

Breakfast-wise, Just 1 block across the river from the Hyatt is the Fox & Obel cafe, which serves a first-rate breakfast. It is a coupla bucks more than your usual breakie place. But it's still a huge steal when you consider that most items served there are usually significantly better than what most cafes serve around town.


Kamehachi
1400 North Wells St
(312) 664-3663

Fox & Obel
401 E Illinois St
(312) 410-7301

Dave Feldman wrote:Here is my sad fate. I'm going to be in Chicago (that's the good news) for the national bridge tournament next week. Our constraints during this period are tough (and this is the bad news). We need to eat dinner at approximately 5 to 5:30 and be back at the Hyatt by 7:30 sharp. I'll have some time after the tourney to do some serious eating, but any recommendations you'd have for places (any type, really) that would be open this early for dinner (we can take taxis, of course) would be greatly appreciated..

I've been reading the boards and don't need more help with my free time. But any ideas for late-night eating in the area, or breakfast, for that matter, would be more than welcome.

Thanks,

Dave

Kan Zaman isn't as glamorous as other restaurants, but if you like Middle Eastern food, you'll probably enjoy it. It's a fairly plain room done in upscale casual generic blond wood/brick walls, etc. They will definitely be open for the dinner hours. It is on the western section of River North - about half a mile from the Hyatt.

We often order Kan Zaman from work for takeout - and then walk 10 minutes to pick it up. Every time, it has been waiting for us.

I'm not sure how Kan Zaman rates with everyone else - but it's been a favorite of mine (especially the baba gannouj, especially if I'm in a group of picky eaters and need a restaurant we can all enjoy) for a long time.

Kan Zaman (Lebanese)
617 N Wells
312-751-9600
menu pages link

dayzella wrote:I'm not sure how Kan Zaman rates with everyone else - but it's been a favorite of mine (especially the baba gannouj, especially if I'm in a group of picky eaters and need a restaurant we can all enjoy) for a long time.

I also work quite close to Kan Zaman. We've been going more regularly since they added mildly seasoned french fries to their lunch sandwich orders. I just need to remember to order my tahini on the side, because when they put it on (especially the chicken shwarma) the sandwich becomes kind of a gloppy mess.

It's not my favorite middle eastern food in town, but it is a reasonable part of the lunch arsenal, considering we don't have a lot of options that far west in River North. Honestly, though, given Dave's time constraints (including limited overall time in Chicago), I wouldn't put it so high on the list.

Dave, you might look at the Backstage Bistro, the student restaurant at the Illinois Institute of Art - Chicago culinary school. As is common for student cafes, you can get slightly upscale food for slightly cheaper than it might be otherwise. I've only been once, a couple of months ago, but the food was pretty good. The host was a little over-attentive, but maybe he's on summer vacation -- and besides, they're students. They reopen for summer session later this week on the 13th, same day the tournament starts. Summer menu is available here.
It's very close to the Hyatt.

Backstage Bistro
Illinois Institute of Art
180 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago
(312) 475-6920

The Backstreet Bistro is a pretty good choice in the general vacinity. The food is generally very well prepared while the service is well, too attentive. As the students are on a rotation, you generally get either a waiter who is extremely formal and professional or a kid who is more suited to being a prep cook and is completely uncomfortable.

The food makes up for the stiffness of th eservice.

For Thai you could go to

Singha Chicago's Premier Thai Restaurant
340 N. Clark St.
312-467-0300

Star of Siam
11 E. Illinois St.
312-670-0100

For Indian

Indian Garden
247 E. Ontario St.
312-280-4910

You could also get an early bird pre-theatre menu at

Brasserie Jo
59 W. Hubbard St.

Have a good time !

Thanks for all of your ideas so far. I know it's more fun to write about places you are passionate about than about "best possible" options, so they are especially appreciated.

It depends on what you mean by latenight, but, as mentioned, most places in Greektown are open till midnight and Chinatown has spots open even later, including the celebrated LTH. The only 24-hour restaurants remotely in the vicinity are the Pakistani taxi driver hangouts and Tempo, a fairly nice Grecian diner.

The early time is more awkward because lots of places close after lunch and either aren't open for dinner or open at 6 p.m. However, within Illinois Center attached to the Hyatt is Faycurr's, a little grocery with a cafe that's open till 6, I believe. Also, inside the Hyatt, there's an excellent steakhouse called Stetson's that opens at 5:30.

Three Happiness
312/842-1964
209 W. Cermak Road Chicago

Tempo Café
312/943-4373
6 E. Chestnut St. Chicago

Faycurr's Urban Kitchen & Cafe
312/819-0250
Columbus Plaza
233 E. Wacker Drive Concourse level
Chicago

Stetson's Steak & Chop House
312/565-1234
www.stetsonschophouse.com
Hyatt Regency Chicago
151 E. Wacker Drive Chicago

I work in the area, at odd hours - sometimes very early in the morning, sometimes till late at night. A couple of suggestions (if you are up for slumming it a little, from a cuisine point of view):

For breakfast, the Ohio House Cafe (corner of Ohio/LaSalle) - cute little diner with a few booths and a counter. typical fare, but good and not greasy, inexpensive, and they open at 5:30 a.m. Doesn't pretend to be anything it's not, which is unique in and of itself for the neighborhood these days. In the Loop I like the Pittsfield Cafe, in the lobby of the Pittsfield Building (Washington/Wabash). The food is average, at best, but eating in the atrium of a deco skyscraper makes up for it, in my book. They also open very early.

For late at night, I sometimes head down to Lawrence's Fisheries, 2120 S Canal St. You can order any kind of seafood any way you like it, as long as that's fried. Fish chunks, popcorn shrimp, scallops, etc, served by the pound in a paper bag. The deli case features homemade desserts from Curtis's bakery on the West Side - peach cobbler and banana pudding (with Nilla wafers, as God intended), and some other cakes and pies. They have a parking lot and are open 24 hours. (You could get a taxi down there but would probably have to call for one to go back - they have ample parking, though).

Again, these places are not haute cuisine. But I love them as increasingly rare chunks of old-school Chicago. Fried food, nice people, convenient hours, no attitude.

Thanks, Beth. You make a good point. Even at the foot of the Gold Coast, where I'm staying, I'm constantly reminded of older Chicago, and its many charms. It's a magnificent city, and it's fun walking around almost everywhere. It's one of the few cities where I totally understand going to a place with average food because the ambience is so cool.

I ate at Salpicon last night and was vaguely disappointed. Tried a wild salmon special -- a superb piece of fish with a too-sweet mango salsa monstrosity over it. The queso fundido I tried was kind of blah, too. Some of my compatriots ordered better.

Dave,

Another late night venue which has very good sandwiches, especially hamburgers, is Smith & Wollensky at Dearborn and the river. The lounge/cafe in the lower level stays open 'til midnight or 1 am.

Jesper

Jesper wrote:Dave,

Another late night venue which has very good sandwiches, especially hamburgers, is Smith & Wollensky at Dearborn and the river. The lounge/cafe in the lower level stays open 'til midnight or 1 am.

Jesper

Thanks, we were in that situation last night and wish we knew about it. Our group liked Quartino very much. We especially liked the caponata.

I had a wonderful dinner at Spoon Thai. Because of dietary restraints of my dinnermates, I could only order a portion of the dishes I wanted. But the better dishes were clearly superior to anything I can obtain in New York.

Although nothing was less than good, there were two clear highlights of the meal for me:

The hah mok plaa was superb. It's one of my favorite dishes at Lotus of Siam, and this version was a little different (for some reason, there is a listing for "hah mok" on the Thai menu, and the waitress indicated that it did not contain the "red curry" mentioned in the description of the dish. I'm not sure if there are two different dishes or the translation/description on the menu is a mistake, but she assured me that the dish was the "white" version I"m more accustomed to. This rendition featured a composed disk of catfish rather than pieces of fish,and the cabbage formed a bed on the bottom, when I'm used to it being interspersed with the fish. Who cares? What resulted was delightful.

My absolute favorite, though, in fact my favorite bite I've had in Chicago so far, was the fried rice with Gouramy fish. It was our last of many, many courses, and my friends were crying uncle. I didn't think I would be able to eat more than a little of the dish, and I ended up scarfing 3/4 of it. It's one of the best fried rice dishes I've eaten in any cuisine, and the seasoning was perfect. Although the fish is what "made" the dish, I have a feeling that all of their fried rice is outstanding. In fact, I'd guess that frying in general is a strong point at Spoon. The fried chicken in spicy tamarind sauce was perfectly cooked.

I loved Spoon.

Funny, Spoon does not seem close to Wacker and Michigan

Of course, now I wanna hear about ALL of what you got there. Perhaps Erik M can chime in (or someone else), but my memory of the ho mak, the catfish custard in banan leaves (right?) is of a muted red curry intermingled with white catfish and white cabbage or some other white veg.

Rob

Vital Information wrote:Funny, Spoon does not seem close to Wacker and Michigan

Of course, now I wanna hear about ALL of what you got there. Perhaps Erik M can chime in (or someone else), but my memory of the ho mak, the catfish custard in banan leaves (right?) is of a muted red curry intermingled with white catfish and white cabbage or some other white veg.

Rob

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Because of two different religions and some squeamishness, our ordering was all over the map, but here's what we had:

the one-bite lettuce cups with coconut and peanuts (couldn't get my friends to order the ones with mackeral)

the hoh mok of mystery (which knocked me out).

fried chicken with spicy tamarind sauce -- delicious and expertly fried

beef larb (delicious in taste, strangely mild in heat)

pad key mao (undistinguished but by far the hottest dish of the night, reallly could have used more fresh herbs)

lime chicken (ordered under my protest) -- not good enough to distract me from my favorite dish of the night, the

fried rice with Gouramy fish, with lovely flecks of skin. A platonic dish.

sticky rice with mango

Vital Information wrote:Perhaps Erik M can chime in (or someone else), but my memory of the ho mak, the catfish custard in banan leaves (right?) is of a muted red curry intermingled with white catfish and white cabbage or some other white veg.

It has been so long since I last ordered it at Spoon that I cannot say.

In any case, I grew disillusioned with the restaurant versions of hàw mòk long ago.

I now purchase it instead from Thailand Food Corp. and PNA:


hàw mòk plaa châwn - steamed curry custard with Mudfish from Thailand Food Corp.*


hàw mòk salmâwn - steamed curry custard with Salmon and white cabbage from PNA.**

E.M.

* Additional remarks on this item (and Thailand Food Corp.) can be found here.

** Additional remarks on this item (and PNA) can be found here.

I owe LTH a trip report. And I will issue one eventually.

Unfortunately, my return was delayed by more than 24 hours by thunderstorms in New York. I haven't eaten anything good in close to 48 hours, but before then, I spent a combined 8 hours or so at TAC Quick and Alinea.

More anon. Thanks to LTH for all the help.

DF, who loved his time in Chicago.

I'm finally back in New York. Luckily, the eating portion of my trip to Chicago was far superior to my experience at O'Hare. But enough whining. I had a great time in Chicago, and LTH'ers were in good part responsible for my pleasure. I thought I'd issue my Top 10 List of Favorite Bites:

1. The fried rice with Gouramy fish at Spoon Thai

2. The Issan-style sour, light, and spicy soup with beef offal at TAC (these 2 win top kudos because I couldn't stop eating either, long after hunger had been sated)

3. Carnitas at Carnitas Urupuan

4. The squab, especially the confit, at Alinea

5. The hoh mok of mystery at Spoon

6. The boat noodles at TAC

7. The kobe beef dish at Alinea

8. The combo sandwich at Al's (I'm not particularly a fan of Italian beef, but the sausage and hot peppers and the excellent bread won me over)

9. The spicy caponata at Quartino

10. The fried chicken with spicy tamarind sauce at Spoon

Some general musings:

I was mightily impressed with Spoon and TAC. One meal at each isn't sufficient to give me a sense of which I like more. Although I thought there were ups and downs at both places, I think it's safe to say that both of these restaurants' highs are superior to anything in NYC.

The biggest disappointment was Salpicon. Maybe we didn't order well, but I sampled more than ten dishes and a week later, I can't remember a single thing I ate.

The biggest pleasant surprise was Quartino, which was perfect for our needs during the bridge tournament. Adults, kids, the picky, the ravenous, and the weird all enjoyed it and the service and food had little of the theme park feel of Hugo's. The vegetable salads, especially anything with eggplant, the fish entrees, and the pizzas were all terrific.

I don't want to do a "real" review of Alinea for a couple of reasons. One is that Dom's report is unbeatable. And perhaps more importantly, I'm uncomfortable about doing so because I'm friends with one of the investors in the restaurant, and had dinner with him, his wife, and three close friends. We ordered the tour (13 of the 24 courses were identical to Dom's report) and consumed an inordinate amount of wine. And perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed the five hours (!) so much is that I paid nary a cent for the experience.

I found the experience to be great fun, but I have to admit that my favorite dishes tended to be those with extraordinary ingredients, and the more entreeish items, such as the squab, beef, bison, and hamachi. The hamachi was of the highest quality, but accompanied by dabs of buttermilk and blueberry puddles, and some not very tasty green peanuts. What I remember is the naked fish. Same with the kobe. But the squab and bison dishes were enhanced by the "creative" preparations, for the reasons Dom elucidates in his report. Other than the menthol course, which I liked much better than Dom, I tended to agree with his observations, although I think he's also more enthusiastic about the desserts (I did love the cream cheese course, though).

Next time I come, it won't be for a bridge tournament, and I'll do more neighborhood hopping. As it was, I was confined to one meal a day much of the time. Frustrating, but thanks largely to the generosity of LTH'ers, I ate well in your beautiful city.

Dave, thanks for reporting back on where you ate -- I'm especially glad that you got down to Pilsen for some carnitas, given your disappointment at Salpicon. You did a fair amount of exploring given the constraints of your tournament. Definitely check out more of the neighborhoods next time!

Amata

I didn't have the opportunity to eat at any of the late-night places you recommended, but I did stop at Artopolis and had an excellent coffee. It's a lovely space and I hope next time I'll come with an appetite.